There's an official Elden Ring comic... and it's a comedy

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"I'd at least hoped for someone with enough sense to wear pants."

Elden Ring Manga
(Image credit: Kadokawa and FromSoftware)

The delightful people at Elden Ring developer FromSoftware's parent company have decided that yes, we deserve a comic—well, Japanese Manga—adaptation of Elden Ring. That parent company is Kadokawa, one of the largest publishers of manga in the world. 

So they've taken their vast stable of talent and decided to make... a comedy. A gag strip. A goof. A series of laughs. You can read the first two issues, for free, today, via comic-walker. The announcement was made on Famitsu.

If you've never read Japanese comics before, know that you start reading from top right to bottom left, and click the left side of the screen to advance pages. The first two issues are called "You Thought This'd Be Serious, Didn't You?" and "Probably Maiden."

Manga fans will be pleased to know that the joking adaptation will be done by Nikiichi Tobita, the creator of equally-goofy fantasy comic A Cursed Sword's Daily Life. If you've read any of that one, well, it's a perfect match: It's also a comic that turns a dark fantasy world into a comedy.

The debut issues are absolutely packed with gags both fourth wall breaking and in-game. "It's just a lot of new proper nouns here," says the confused protagonist at one point, perfectly mimicking the attitude of new FromSoft game players everywhere. (Of which, in Elden Ring's case, there are a lot.)

So if you're down for a comic about armored knights kicking some dimwit into orbit, or a horse that's into firm thighs, or a lady who's very frustrated at the limited selection of companions she's got available, or Elden Ring generally,  go ahead and check it out over on comic-walker. The English releases will come alongside the Japanese, with the next issue set for September 19th.

In other Elden Ring news, there's 800-pages of official art books on the way. Those are Japanese only for now, but expect English eventually because Elden Ring is undeniably a massive, massive hit that'll prove influential for years to come. Our Tyler Colp is already saying that Elden Ring is the new Skyrim, citing developers who've talked about how the game has already changed their in-progress games.

Jonathan Bolding
Contributor

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.